Back
by The Ambience Endeavor
Summary: Red was who he was because of the journey he took. Of course, if some people were to change his journey, the course of history could be drastically changed. Would Rocket be the same? Would Blue? And what would happen to Red?
1. Chapter 1

Four skilled boys left on their own whilst boredom plays upon their minds is not in any way safe or advisable. Unfortunately, this was precisely the case one warm summer night.

Black, Cheren, Barry, and Lucas were visiting the famed pokemon lab of Professor Elm, and, with the exception of Lucas, had yet to be amazed by anything they saw. "That's it. I'm fed up with looking at facts and figures," Barry huffed, barely glancing at the next chart.

"But Barry, look over here! It's amazing! Can you believe that-" Lucas looked up to see the other three continuing on their path, ignoring him completely.

"It was nice of Professor Elm to let us look around, but this might be more interesting," Cheren ventured as they passed through another lab room, nearly identical in lack of organization as the others, "if the Professor himself was able to show us around. Since he's not though, it's a little..."

"Dull?" Black finished. Two of his three companions nodded.

Lucas crossed his arms. "This isn't dull at all! It's incredible! The discovery that a berry's healing time for a pokemon can be cut in half depending on the kind of care it receives is a scientific breakthrough!"

"Yawn," Barry responded. "Look, _I've _got an idea. Let's battle."

Black and Cheren were somewhat drawn by the idea, and so agreed. "H-hey wait! We can't battle in here!" Lucas protested.

Barry laughed, nearly knocking over several stacks of paper as he walked by. "Like we would! Let's go outside. Nothing like a night battle for some fun! Now c'mon, let's go get our pokemon from the PC." Seeing as the other three had their minds made up, Lucas reluctantly followed.

As they walked by, Barry tripped over a packet of papers on the ground. "Man, this lab really needs to be cleaned," he muttered, picking up the packet. "Whoa... this is about Champion Red!" Immediately, the other three were at his side.

"Let me see!" Black said in excitement. They all studied the papers. "Can you believe it? He beat Team Rocket and every gym leader, and later the Elite Four, all before he was even twelve years old. _I _was twelve when I got my first pokemon," he added, laughing.

"Yes, and his abilities as a trainer far surpassed many who had been training for years. He's truly a legend," Cheren agreed.

Lucas analyzed the paper in his hand. "I wonder what he was like when he first started. Or when he was our age. How old is he now?"

"Um... three years older than us, Lucas. Seventeen," Barry replied.

Black started. "Wait, so he's only two years older than me? How is he so much better than I am?"

Cheren laughed. "He's not a legend for nothing, Black."

He crossed his arms. "Well someday, I'll be a legend too."

Barry nodded. "Yep, same here! And we'll get there sooner if we go and train! C'mon guys, that's enough reading!" The four put the papers back into place and were off to find the PC. Down a corrider or two was the main lab room, lights off, with various machines and papers strewn around. Somewhere in the chaos was Professor Elm's desk. "Where's the light switch?"

"Good question, but it looks like turning the lights on wouldn't help us find anything," Cheren replied dryly.

Barry frowned. "Well... let's just look for the PC."

After about five minutes, Black called out to the others, "Here, I found it!" The other three studied it as well as they could in the dark.

"Looks odd," Cheren noted, "and kind of old. Are you sure this is a PC?"

Barry grinned. "What else could it be? C'mon, start it up!"

"Stop!" Lucas shouted. "Rule number one in a laboratory: If you don't know what it is, _don't touch it._"

The blond scoffed. "Oh please. This is _definitely _a PC. Just log in, Black!"

Black looked at Cheren. "Well? What should I do? Log in or leave it?"

Cheren crossed his arms. "I've had enough of tripping over random stacks of paper in this dark lab. Just start it up. Barry has a point; what else could it be?"

Lucas sighed. "Yeah, fine, I'm with them, just start it up."

Black nodded and turned it on. The old machine hummed hesitantly, indicating that it hadn't been used in a while. Soon, the screen lit up. Finally, a log-in screen appeared. "Okay, I'll log in and get my pokemon, then-"

"Then I'll get mine!" Barry announced.

"O-kay, then Barry." Black typed in his log-in information... and was denied access. "W-what? Why isn't it working?"

"Let me try," Lucas said. "I have a lab log-in, so that should work." Lucas typed in his info... and was also denied.

Cheren narrowed his eyes. "Okay, this is weird. Maybe it's _not _a PC?"

Barry shook his head. "No way! It has to be! Let me try!" As he typed, a message popped up on the screen. "What's 'begin transfer now'...?"

"Don't click it!" Lucas shouted.

Of course, Barry clicked it.

"What is wrong with you?" Lucas demanded.

"Well it wasn't letting us log in so I figured maybe this would help!"

"Are you insane? What did I say about touching things?"

"Guys...!" Black pointed at the machine. Whether the four liked it or not, they were all glued to the screen, waiting to see what happened next. A progress bar had now popped up. "It's at 60%..."

"What happens when it reaches 100%?" Cheren asked. Of course, no one knew the answer to that.

"Maybe... maybe we should get out of here..." Lucas murmured nervously. "What if something bad happens?"

"Then we'll need to take responsibility for it," Black replied. "But I'm pretty sure it's just a PC. I bet Professor Elm is sending some pokemon over. That's probably why it wouldn't let us log in, too... 'Cause it was connecting to the other PC."

Cheren nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Let's wait for the transfer to finish, and then we can get our pokemon."

They watched for a few more moments, and then the bar reached 100%. "O-kay... where are the pokemon he's sending over?" Barry asked impatiently.

"It's an old machine. Maybe it takes a little while to load?" Lucas suggested. Anxiety was creeping back into his tone.

Suddenly, the screen lit up brightly. "Preparations completed. Transferring now," the machine said. The screen got brighter and brighter and the machine hummed louder than it had before. Then, white light engulfed the four, and they were dragged into the machine before they could do anything about it.

After that, the machine's screen dimmed. "Transfer completed. Shutting down." The humming quieted and then muted altogether, and the lab was once again still and dark.

A few yards away, the phone beeped as the voice message system was activated. "Hello, Professor Elm. It's Bill, from Goldenrod. Just wondering how you were doing with my old machine. Does it even turn on still?" There was a pause as the young man laughed. "Well, anyways, I'm glad someone has some use for it. I could only ever get it to work once, and after that, for some reason, it stopped. Feel free to do whatever you want with it, I don't need it anymore. You could even use it for spare parts if you wanted." Another laugh. "Well, thanks for taking my old 'time capsule' off my hands. Now I have space to work on the new PC system. Call me if you have any questions, and have a good week!" There was a beep, and the call was disconnected.

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_a.n. Greetings. I am The Ambience Endeavor. I hope to update this story weekly, and I also hope you all enjoy it. Feel free to leave a review with anything you like or dislike. I would highly appreciate it. _


	2. Chapter 2

"Owww..." That single uttered sound was enough to describe how all four felt.

"What happened?" Black groaned, opening his eyes and pushing himself up off the floor.

Lucas sat up as well. "I have no idea."

"Where are we?" Cheren was the first to notice that where they were was _not _the dark messy lab of Professor Elm. Rather, they were in a clean, tiled, well-lit area.

"Where did you four come from?" A new voice asked the group. Looking up from their spot on the floor, they saw a nurse in an outdated uniform. None of them were quite sure how to answer that question, and thankfully, she kept speaking so they didn't have to. "I should have seen you all pass by, after all, I was at the counter the whole time. What did you do, sneak in?"

The boys looked at each other, unsure of what to say. "Um..." Barry began. "We uh... is this the Pokemon Center?" The boy chose to go with the age old adage, when in doubt, change the subject.

The young woman blinked in surprise. "Y-yes... what else would it be?"

Barry smiled sheepishly. "O-oh, right. Of course. Pokemon Center. I knew that."

"Care to explain how you got in?" She seemed very intent on getting the answer to that question.

Lucas, deciding that honesty was the best policy, answered. "We have no idea."

She frowned. "Is that so...? Are you four pokemon trainers?"

"Absolutely!" Black now stood, and the other three followed suit. "My name is Black, and I'm from Unova. These are my friends, Cheren, Barry, and Lucas. Cheren's from Unova too, and the other two are from Sinnoh."

The nurse stared at them blankly. "Oh really... Do you mind if I see your trainer cards?"

"Oh, sure! I- oh, um... We left them... uh... where we came from."

Now, the woman took a step back. "How about your pokemon?"

"Our pokemon?" Barry echoed. "Of cou-" His eyes widened. "Wait a second... we... we left them too!"

The nurse seemed quite concerned with their behavior, and Cheren could see she was getting nervous. "If you could just let us use the PC, we can get our pokemon," he suggested calmly.

"It's right over there," she responded, gesturing a few yards away to a machine in the corner. "If you'll excuse me for a moment..." With that, she walked off.

"Wow... this PC looks older than that machine we were using in Professor Elm's lab!" Barry remarked.

"But cleaner," Black observed.

"What was that, anyways? What happened? Why are we here?" Lucas questioned.

"Those are all good questions," Cheren responded, turning the PC on, "and we won't get an answer until we know where we are and have some control of the situation. I think you guys overwhelmed her a bit; you shouldn't just burst forth with things like that, Black." The aforementioned boy averted his eyes in embarrassment. "Once we get our pokemon, we'll head out and figure out where we are. Then we can try to contact someone we know in the area, okay?" The other three decided to go with Cheren's plan.

"Invalid log-in. Access denied," the PC chimed.

"T-type it again," murmured Lucas. His feeling of trepidation was growing. Carefully typing out every character brought no better results. The PC denied access again.

"This is bizarre. Why isn't it letting us-"

"Excuse me, but are you four pokemon trainers?" An unknown voice resounded from behind them, and they turned with a start to see two large men studying them. The nurse stood a little ways back. Her eyes were narrowed.

Black, the least intimidated of the group, faced the men without fear. "Yes, we are," he responded clearly.

"Where are your IDs or trainer cards?" The man on the left asked.

"We don't have them with us at the moment." Cheren's tone was steady and calm, and he moved to stand between Black and the two men, all three of whom seemed a bit too confrontational for his liking.

"And your pokemon?" the man on the right asked.

"Once again, they aren't with us. The PC wouldn't let us log in to get them."

"Let me try," the nurse suggested, walking up to the PC. "What is your log-in information?" Cheren responded accordingly, then made a mental note to change his password.

"Invalid log-in. Access denied."

The men moved a bit closer to the four boys. "A-are you sure you typed it right?" Lucas asked. "Try again, please."

She tried two more times. Neither were fruitful.

"Where did you four say you were from?" One of the men grumbled, staring hard at the boys.

"What's it to you?" Barry's temper, which had been steadily heating since the PC had first denied access, had now reached a piping boil. "Look here, we're trainers in a public area! There are no laws denying access to Pokemon Centers to anyone, whether they have IDs on them or not! Or even _pokemon, _for that matter! What's next, am I not allowed to go into a grocery store because I don't have my ID? Why don't I fix this problem by going out and catching a pokemon right now! Or maybe I should _steal _one! Would that make things better?"

Lucas had stopped listening and placed his head in his hands about two sentences into the rant. Cheren stared at the blond in horror, while Black had been frantically making motions to Barry to shut his mouth. Unfortunately, no matter who wished Barry's words could be taken back, the deed was done, and the four swiftly found themselves back on the ground; this time, outside of the pokemon center.

"We'd better not see your faces here again, or the police will deal with you!" The door was slammed, and that was that.

"Good going, Barry," Lucas grumbled.

"Yeah yeah, just get off." The two Sinnoh natives were on the ground, one squarely on the stomach of the other. Black helped them up, and they found themselves on an unfamiliar street in an unfamiliar city, their only possible refuge denied them. "Sorry guys. I... I guess I shouldn't have said that," Barry sighed.

Black laughed quietly. "It's nothing I wasn't sayin' already in my head."

"_I _certainly wasn't," Cheren growled.

"Sorry, sorry!" Barry put his hands up in mock surrender.

"Well... what do we do now?" Lucas asked. It was one o' clock in the morning, and the streets were mostly silent.

"I _would _say we should stay in a Pokemon Center, but _unfortunately_, we _cannot._" Cheren was, to say the least, displeased with his current situation.

"Yeah, yeah, that was directed to me. I get it. Let's just go sleep on a bench or something. The weather's nice, we can figure out where we are and what to do about it tomorrow."

Black nodded. "Sounds like our best bet. Let's go... uh that way, I guess?" Tired and grumpy, the group found a single bench underneath a scraggly tree across from a drug store on the not-so-nice side of town. Packed in like sardines in a can, they somehow managed to fall asleep.

* * *

_a.n. Thank you for reading chapter two of my story. All reviews are much appreciated, and I hope you have enjoyed what you've read thus far._


	3. Chapter 3

"Okay, I'm all ready to go now, Mom." The boy couldn't fight the huge grin on his face. Today was the day. It was _the _day! Today, he was going to get his first pokemon! He could feel excitement coursing through his veins. He was soon to touch the shine and smooth of his very own pokeball, to breathe the heat of battle. It was in his bones, and he was ready! Ready to _finally _be a pokemon trainer.

"Honey, are you _sure _you have everything? Let me check again!"

The boy smiled. "Mom... I'm seriously ready to go. You've checked my bag three times now."

The woman sighed, stopping her rummaging through her son's drawers and turned to look at him. "I can't help it, Red. You're all I've got. What am I going to do without you?"

"Take up knitting maybe?"

"Red...!"

Red laughed. "Maybe I can catch you a pokemon, since you know, I'll be a _real _trainer!"

His mother smiled, walked over to him and ruffled his hair. "I think you'll be a great trainer. But I am going to worry, you know. So you'll have to call me every time you get to a Pokemon Center, okay?"

"Definitely!" the boy affirmed.

Setting his hat on his head, his mother asked, "It's not just your birthday today, right? Isn't that boy Blue turning ten today as well? Maybe you two can travel together!"

Red clenched his fist. "No way. All that guy ever does is make fun of me. He calls me names too! There's no way I could travel with him."

His mother sighed. "I just... wish you weren't going alone. I'd feel much better if you were with someone I could trust."

"Well, I'll have my own pokemon, and I'll make sure I train it to be really strong, so you won't have to worry. I'll be safer than anyone in Kanto with my super strong pokemon by my side!" A fiery look entered his eyes, and his mother could see there was no persuading him away from his dreams.

"Okay, okay. Well I suppose you'd better get going. Professor Oak is going to be waiting for you."

"Right!" the boy shouted. "Here I go!" With that, he ran down the stairs.

"Hey, wait! Don't forget to come back home to say goodbye after you get your pokemon!" his mother called after him.

"I won't forget!" Red was now out the door and running down the road. Every step he took brought him closer to his brand new pokemon.

The day was warm and bright, perfect for an adventure. "Which one should I get..." Red wondered to himself. "Squirtle, Charmander, Bulbasaur... all three are good choices." He kept running. "Um... Let's see... the first gym's type is rock I guess? What's strong against rock again? Fire is the only one that isn't... So I guess I should go with Squirtle or Bulba-" Suddenly, a foot stuck out in his path, and he tripped and fell flat on his face.

"Look who finally decided to show up."

Red gritted his teeth. "Blue!" He pushed himself up, standing and staring hard at the boy in front of him. "What was that for, huh?"

Blue smirked. "For holding me up, that's why. Gramps wouldn't let me have my pokemon until you got here. Now c'mon, he's waiting, and I'm tired of standin' around." Blue led the way, and begrudgingly, Red followed.

"Ah, Red! I've been waiting." The aforementioned boy smiled when he heard that voice. Professor Oak. The lab was a familiar place to him, as he often went there to learn about pokemon. Professor Oak had allowed him to play with the pokemon at the lab, since as long as Red could remember, and so Red had been a regular visitor to the lab. Now, though, he would have his _own _pokemon. All the anticipation that had been building, for years, was now finally realized. He could barely hold it in.

"So have I!" the boy said, grinning.

"Well, are you ready?" Professor Oak asked, first handing him his trainer card, then gesturing towards a table. Three pokeballs sat upon it.

Red's eyes lit up. "Completely!" Moving over to the table, he stared in awe at the three spheres before him. "So I... I just... can pick whichever one I want?"

The professor smiled. "That's right. Whichever you like."

Blue crossed his arms. "No fair, Gramps! How come he gets to pick first? I've been waiting all day to get my pokemon, and now _he _gets first pick?"

Professor Oak sighed. "Blue... we talked about this already. Let Red pick first."

"I think... I think I want Squirtle," Red said after much thought.

Blue's eyes narrowed. "No way! That's the one _I _was gonna pick! Gramps, this _isn't fair!_"

Red couldn't help but feel a little triumphant over Blue for having chosen the one he wanted. It wasn't like he'd done it on purpose, but it certainly was a perk. "Sorry Blue, but like your grandpa said, _I _get to pick first."

Blue was not having this. He stomped over to Red and snatched the ball from his hands. "No! This one is _mine._"

"Hey! Give it back!" Red shouted, reaching for the pokeball. In a moment of anger, Red lost his temper and shoved Blue back hard into the table, releasing the other two pokemon.

Completely ignoring the situation, Red punched Blue, causing the other boy to drop the pokeball. Professor Oak was probably shouting their names and telling them to stop, but neither boy heard. They were too caught up in the moment. "Give it to me!"

"No!" Blue grabbed the ball just before Red could, and kicked him hard from his position on the floor. "Get your own pokemon. This one is _mine._" With that, he pushed himself up off the floor and ran as hard as he could out of the lab.

"Hey! _Hey!" _It was too late though. Blue was out of earshot, and there was no way Red could catch up to him now. Besides, even if he did, they would just end up in another fistfight, and although Red loathed to admit it, Blue _was _stronger than him. '_And he kicks pretty hard,_' he thought to himself as he felt the pangs of pain in his stomach. "Well now what?" Blue had just, in a single moment, ruined his entire day.

Professor Oak sighed. "I am so sorry, Red. I tried to stop the two of you, but unfortunately, my grandson is too hotheaded to have any sense when he gets mad. I'll send a Growlithe or two out to find him, and we'll get you your Squirtle."

"Thanks..." Red murmured. This was not how he had envisioned his day.

"Mander...!" Red looked down. The Charmander that had been accidentally released was patting his leg gently. "Char char!"

The boy smiled. "Heh... thanks little guy. I think I needed that."

A few lab aides and some Growlithes prepared to go out and look for Blue. "Charmander char char!" The little lizard pokemon was somewhat of a chatterbox, and Red figured it didn't get out of its pokeball much. As he watched the Charmander, he thought about Blue. He had been too angry to realize it earlier, but the look in Blue's eyes had been one of genuine hurt. Come to think of it, he _had _heard that Blue had been training with the starters. Maybe... maybe he had really become attached to the Squirtle. And maybe... maybe he was jealous of Red?

Red made up his mind. "Hang on, Professor Oak. I... I want Charmander, instead."

Professor Oak blinked in surprise, picking up Charmander's pokeball from the floor and handing it to the boy. "Are you sure, Red? We can go get Squirtle for you right now, if you wanted."

"Nah, it's okay. Blue was pretty mad that I picked it. He should have it instead. And besides," Red added with a grin, "I think Charmander and I'll get along just fine."

"Well... all right. I'm still going to have to have a talk with that boy, though. He really ought to know better than to behave like that!"

Red laughed. "Yeah... well, if that's it, I guess I'll be going. My mom's waiting for me, so-"

"Oh, wait. May I ask you a favor?"

Red stopped and turned, and Charmander, who had been trailing him closely, ran into his leg. "Sure, what is it?"

"When you get to Viridian, could you pick up a package for me at the PokeMart there? I asked them to deliver it to the lab but they said it was too far out of the way. And I would go myself, but I'm very busy here. Would it be too much to ask for you to do that?"

The boy shook his head. "Nah, it's no big deal. I'll take care of it."

"Thank you very much, Red!"

"Not a problem!" the boy called out behind him. Calling his new Charmander back into its pokeball, he stepped out of the lab and took a deep breath.

He had been pretty mad when Blue had taken the Squirtle right out of his hands. However, he found himself growing rapidly attached to this little Charmander. The way things played out (aside from the kick to the stomach) had probably been for the best. Now, he really had a pokemon, and he was _really _a trainer.

With a broad grin, he set off. _'First home, then Viridian, then the lab, then... then who knows where!'_

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___a.n. As always, thank you for reading, and also, please review!_


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